


Not What He Expected

by dementor_ssc



Category: Gravity Falls, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Crossover, Gen, Spoilers for Deathly Hallows
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-11
Updated: 2016-09-11
Packaged: 2018-08-14 12:07:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8013151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dementor_ssc/pseuds/dementor_ssc
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It wasn't Dumbledore waiting for Harry when he died in the Forbidden Forest.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Not What He Expected

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, I did the thing. Based on [this AU](http://flying-guinea-pig.tumblr.com/post/150210364254/lets-talk-about-crossovers-specifically-lets) headcanon.
> 
> Been ages since I dipped into the HP fanfics, so this could be a bit OOC, sorry!

When he walked into the Forbidden Forest, heart heavy and the Resurrection Stone clamped tightly in his hand, Harry Potter expected to die.

He didn't know what would come afterwards. He'd never been very religious, but after the Priori Incantatem during his first duel with Voldemort, and then the Stone... there had to be something after death. The next great adventure.  He'd seen the spirits of his parents, of Sirius and Remus. They had accompanied him during his fateful walk to where Voldemort was waiting. He had expected to see them again, at least.

He hadn't expected... whatever _this_ was.

As soon as Voldemort's Killing Curse struck, all colour bled out of his surroundings. The Forbidden Forest twisted and morphed, and suddenly Harry found himself in a place he didn't recognize at all.

There was no one waiting for him.

At least no one he could see.

" _Well well well_ , would you look at that! Someone actually managed to gather all my little trinkets together. Congrats, Scar Head! You must be some piece of work!"

The voice came out of nowhere. Harry tried to pinpoint it, with no succes. Wait... 'my trinkets'? Could he mean the Hallows?

"Are you... Death?"

"Depends, kid! Are you feeling lucky?" A high-pitched laugh, as strangely distorted as the rest of its voice, echoed through the - was this a clearing? What was this place anyway?

This didn't look like the Forbidden Forest. It was too bland, too featureless - all trees the same, crowding around this small patch of grass. There was nothing beyond them. Only more birch trees, as far as the eye could see, sapped of all colour like the rest of this strange vision.

"Just kidding! I wouldn't hurt my new favorite mortal in this whole dimension! Sheesh kid, stop frowning like that will you? This is a happy moment! I'm offering you the chance of a lifetime! Literally!"

"Where are you?" Harry asked, turning around, searching his surroundings.

The grass rippled underneath his feet. He jumped, drawing his wand - but it wasn't the wand he'd stolen from Draco or even his holly wand that had been broken. No, the ridges and bumps underneath his fingers were those of the Elder Wand. The one which Voldemort had used to kill him, mere moments ago.

That same creepy laugh echoed from the wand. Harry threw it away without a second thought - he'd had enough trouble with semi-sentient objects, he was not taking any more risks!

Then again, he was already dead. Wasn't he? What did he have to lose?

The wand didn't fall to the ground. It floated up, somewhere around eye level, and lines of golden fire blossomed around it. A triangle - a circle - the symbol of the Deathly Hallows, burning in the air, the only spot of colour in this greyscale world.

Something like an oblong pupil rolled into the circle.

Harry could do nothing but stare as the lines of fire turned black and eye-watering yellow spread through the triangle. The circle became a large unblinking eye. The symbol shifted, a bowtie and a top hat popping into existence and four spindly black limbs growing out of the sides.

The symbol of the Deathly Hallows looked down on Harry Potter, twirling the Elder Wand between its odd stubby fingers.

"Funny thing, wizards and their wands," it said. "Seem to have a mind of their own sometimes, hahaha! Here Scar Head, catch!"

It tossed the wand back to Harry. At least his Seeker reflexes hadn't abandoned him in death. He caught it easily, the wand cold and unfamiliar in his hand.

There were too many questions drumming in his head. The one that managed to come out first was: "How? Last I saw, Voldemort had this."

Voldemort had killed him with it, after all. He'd know.

"Long story, way too boring," the triangle said. It had no mouth, but the way its eyelids moved seemed to suggest it was smiling. "Just accept you're the true owner of this pretty little stick and keep it at that."

But if he was the true master of the Elder Wand, and he'd been wearing the Cloak and holding the Stone as he died...

"Does that mean I'm the Master of Death?" Harry said, feeling stupid as he asked it. Life wasn't a fairy tale. But he hated being left in the dark - this time, he deserved some answers.

The triangle laughed again. "Call yourself whatever you like, Scar Head!"

"Then... you are Death."

"I have some other names too, but sure, let's roll with that," Death said. "Welcome in my realm, kid! I've been _keeping my eye on you_ and boy, you really know how to throw a party!"

"You're not really what I expected."

The eye curved, the voice sounding like Death was grinning. "I never am."

Harry swallowed. "Okay," he said. "I'm ready. Take me to the afterlife."

"Woah, not so fast!" Death said. It paused its lazy circling around Harry and suddenly moved, invading Harry's personal space.

"You're not _technically_ dead yet." Death said, eye now wide and unblinking and creepily close to Harry's face. "I can send you back... for a price."

Wait. Really? That meant -

_He could go back_. He didn't have to abandon his friends, his future. He could go back and be there when they defeated Voldemort.

There was really no question about it. He was _tired_ , he really was, but... he couldn't abandon them.

"What do you want in return? Do you want the Hallows? You can have them, they're yours -"

Death gave him a mouthless smile again. "Oh no, kid, you keep them! Have some fun with them! Did you know the Stone can bring dead people back to life? Real life too, not this ghost business. You guys just haven't figured out how yet!"

Hope, hot and painful, blossomed in Harry's chest.

So many people had died in the Battle for Hogwarts. Were still dying right now - how was the battle going? He really needed to return soon!

But he could bring them back. All of them. Remus, Sirius, his parents... _All of them_. As soon as he figured out how.

"So waddaye say, kid?" Death said, moving back and straightening its hat. "Want to make a deal?"


End file.
